How Did Constantine Legalize Christianity

Constantine was a Roman emperor who ruled during the third century. He was most famous for legalizing Christianity in the Roman Empire and is often viewed as the savior of the modern church. Before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine saw God in a dream telling him to fight under the sign of the cross and he would be victorious. By converting to Christianity and ending the persecution of Christians, Constantine allowed Christians to thrive. Constantine took this stand because he had almost completely converted after his vision before the Milvian Bridge and he wanted to support the church as much as possible. This stand is important because it allowed Christianity to thrive and grow and Constantine was the first major figure in

Also by doing so he created the Byzantine Empire which was a Christian empire and stood well into the 14th century. If Constantine had never legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire than it would not have flourished like it does today.

Constantine took a stand by converting to Christianity and ending the persecution of Christians. Upon his deathbed in Nicomedia Constantine was baptized a Christian by Eusebius of Nicomedia, as it was the custom to be baptized before death (Potter 291). Constantine had always wished to be baptized in the Jordan like Jesus but died before he could. During his reign, he expanded the rights Christians had such as the right to judgment by an episcopal court and that Bishops have the power to act as judge and what decision they make is final (Stephenson 174). Constantine adopted the Chi-rho a Greek version of the cross and a pagan symbol as his official symbol. It appeared on statues, mosaics, and even coins. The Chi-rho being both a cross and a

Constantine was a huge benefactor when it came to the Church. He ordered the construction of many Churches in Rome including St. Paul’s outside the walls and the Basilica of St. Peter in 318 A.D.(Morgan 61-62). Both Churches are built on the spots where both Saints are buried. Constantine wanted to help the church grow and spread throughout the empire. In order to make this easier, he gave tax breaks to priests and made all church land tax free(Morgan 55). He also gave allowances to nuns, monks and others who devoted time to the Church. Even though he never made Christianity the official religion of the empire his conversion was the reason for a massive growth in the Christian population in the 4th century. Even though many people think it was a conversion based on spiritual reasons, it was actually a more political move seeing as many of his soldiers were already Christians and he wanted to be seen as more relatable(Stephenson 14). Also, Constantine wanted to appeal to the large and growing Christian communities within the empire. He feared the Christians would rebel against him if he did not act in their favor. Also, many of his soldiers were converting to Christianity and he did not want a military takeover to take place if he did not act in favor of the Christians. He came to realize through his working with the Church, that there was truth to Christianity and